Rhode Island Department of Education Lesson Plan

Lesson Title:

I can change up and down? (Free-body diagrams: Advanced 2-D Motion); 50 minutes + 20 minute extension.

State Standards:

PS3 (9-11)–9 Students demonstrate an understanding of forces and motion by…
  • 9b using Newton’s Laws of Motion and the Law of Conservation of Momentum to predict the effect on the motion of objects.

National Standards:

CONTENT STANDARD B: As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students should
develop an understanding of...
  • Motions and forces

Context of Lesson:

This lesson is designed as a premature capstone for Newton's laws of motion. In fact it is recommended that this lesson be skipped/postponed in it is found that students are struggling on any of the prior lessons and be substituted with a homogeneous review of all prior lessons. With that aside, this lesson is designed to provoke students into thinking about physics is a way they are not normally required to think about things; however they want to! This section focuses on a combination of frictionless inclined-planes and Atwood machines all tied into one. The main point stressed on the idea of basic rules of trigonometry (sine, cosine, tangent) and how forces can exist and occur at different angles. One of the main tools introduced in this lesson is the ability for the students to change their axes within a given problem. It should be stressed that in a problem the axes are set by order of convenience for the problem solver. As long as all the forces remain with the same magnitude and direction there is no physical violation. Some of the primary focuses of this lesson are:
  • Review of basic trigonometric relationships
  • Explanation of how axes can be altered
  • Introducing an angle component into a previously considered "easy" F=ma problem
  • Drawing appropriate right-triangles for forces that occur on an angle
  • Continued practice on simpler 2-D problems involving Newton's 2nd law and kinematic equations

Opportunities to Learn:

Depth of Knowledge

Prerequisite Knowledge

Plans for Differentiating Instruction

Accommodations and modifications

Environmental factors

Materials


Objectives:

Instruction:

Opening:


Engagement:


Closure:


Assessment:




Reflections

(only done after lesson is enacted)

Student Work Sample 1 – Approaching Proficiency:

Student Work Sample 2 – Proficient:

Student Work Sample 3 – Exceeds Proficiency: